Adrian Parrington

With some of the OG & rarities that have been shown so far on here it was difficult to say yes when asked to do this. However, we are all on AOA because we share the same passion for Adidas shoes, so here goes. Welcome to my WT5, I’m Adrian 45, been with my wife Sharon for 28 years and married for 21 & we have a daughter, Lydia. Born in Blackburn, brought up here & still here.

As a kid I was only interested in football, playing it, watching on TV, talking about it, I constantly had a ball strapped to my feet. 60 seconds, Wembley, against a gable end wall (much to the annoyance of the home owner), in the house, wherever really. Don’t remember being bothered about wearing any brand in particular pre-1982, going to high school though changed things.

It began with a pair of Kick, treasured possessions that became an everyday and every occasion wear. They were always on my feet I wore them for school & everything if I’m honest. Never had more than one pair at a time & battered them, if they were looking grim they were scrubbed & polished to make them look a bit better until I could pluck up the courage to dare to ask for another pair. “There’s plenty of life in them” would usually be the response & I suppose as my socks weren’t coming through the soles maybe there was?
Perhaps I was just growing up, I don’t know but I started to get more interested in shoes for things other than kicking a ball with. Brighter colours were getting attention, they no longer had to be Black & White and they didn’t have to look bullet proof for football. New friends, a wider world & a lad from school whose brother had refined the art of rinsing overseas stores. A pair that stick out from him were acquired from Switzerland. I swapped a Fila BJ jacket for a pair of Red Munchen, although I’m sure we called them Suisse (maybe it’s just where they came from?). Loved them to bits & probably a pair I looked after quite well.

Went on to have a few pairs of Munchen after those, shoes & clothes were currency growing up, we swapped & shared. I suppose a bit like it is now really. My parents didn’t understand why I’d want a worn pair of something but sometimes it was the only way to get a pair you’d been after, or refresh what you had. Regular visits to Gibson Sports in Blackburn on a weekend to look, dream & drool about shoes. Birthday, Christmas & nagging money all went into that shop. Probably most memorable & ones I wish I’d looked after more were Columbia & Galaxy. Columbia were swapped twice from memory due to stitching coming away, sometimes the good old days & the quality we appear to remember isn’t always correct.

At 16 I started work & probably around then I got my first pair of Handball Spezial. The Blue & White (Special) has been in my wardrobe ever since. I often had a well worn pair & a newer pair, as they became knackered I would wear them for 5-A-Side, these are the best indoor football shoe in my opinion. Until recently I had 12 c/w’s of this shoe and as it’s been an ever present it had to be part of my top 5. A pair of unforeseen consortium not bought on here but from one of our members Chris Thompson, thanks matey!

None of my other top 5 shoes have deep meanings or cause me to reminisce of times gone by. Probably because as much as I liked my shoes they were only ever bought to wear, kill and replace. There were always a few pairs in the bottom of the cupboard but I’ve never collected. When I started my second job, managing a store selling Stone Island, Armani, C.P Company, etc. Adidas shoes became less expensive (staff discount) and they became less looked after if I’m honest, easy come / easy go. Wish I still had some of the ones from then but there we go.

Before I came onto any of these pages I thought I knew or remembered a thing or two about Adidas shoes, it turned out I knew very little. I had about a dozen or so pairs and being on pages like this was kid in a sweet shop time. Loads of shoes I’d not seen in years, some I’d never seen. How did people keep them looking so good, why did they not take tags off, where do they get them? Sit back, watch, take in what’s going on & learn. It’s been an experience. Liam brought me onto this page around the time I’d bought a pair of Church London and we had talked about them on another page. We were the same size & as I’ve learnt you tend to know who your size is & usually have your eye on something they have, waiting for it to become available.

There are no “grails” that I’m searching, if pairs become available that I like & can afford I will try to get them. I’ve changed my taste quite a bit gone from suede & city types to runners, think I like comfort as I’ve got older. Probably like a few on here, I’ve bought & sold ones I shouldn’t have and I’ve hoarded. Now if something new is coming in something has to go, not necessarily to pay for it, more to maintain some control & stay married!

Hope I’ve not waffled or bored you too much & here are my choices.

5) ZX450 HFS Consortium – Very bright I know, the more I wear this shoe the more I like it, from a runners pack in 2009. Would like to have the 2 other shoes that came with these, Tokio Low & ZXZ NLT if anyone wants to move them on?

4) Toronto Livestock Consortium – Thanks to Shari for this pair (couldn’t decide between these & 03 Boston Super samples). Something I wouldn’t have bought on release, as I didn’t like that silhouette at the time. Had them in my hands a few years ago at Pear Mill Stockport but they were too small. I think I tried to buy them for Dean at the time but much as he does now, he laughed at a runner type of shoe.

3) Tahiti – Was a bit worried about the cracked stripes on these until I spoke to Lee. He told me the old paint could be removed with care & they’d come up looking a lot better. Cheers to Kostya for these.

2) Tobacco Mita – a quality shoe that started me buying various other Tobacco, had several pairs at one stage & down to just these & the winter pack now.

1) Spezial Unforseen Consortium – Already mentioned them & the reasons why. Think I will still have a pair of Blue & White Special when I’m collecting my pension!
Cheers for reading!